Apple’s Fifth Avenue flagship store in the heart of New York City will soon have some competition. Microsoft has confirmed plans to open a flagship retail store of its own on Fifth Avenue, roughly five blocks away from Apple’s iconic…

The physical gift card may soon be a thing of the past if Apple has anything to do with it. The company has rolled out a new service in Japan called iTunes Pass (a different iTunes Pass) in which customers…

Apple on Saturday inaugurated its first Latin American store in Brazil. Located in the shopping Village Mall in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, the store witnessed a grand inauguration with more than 1,700 shoppers standing in a queue for…

Samsung has announced the take-over of 60 Carphone Warehouse locations across Europe. While Carphone Warehouse will continue to operate the retail locations, the 60 stores in question will only be selling "Samsung mobile communications products across Samsung's full range of…

Apple has today opened its online doors for people wanting to purchase an iPad mini with Retina display. The 7.9-inch device is available in a number of countries worldwide, ranging from $399 for the 16 GB Wi-Fi model, to $829…

Apple has announced that it has hired former Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts to head up the "strategic direction, expansion, and operation" of the company's retail and online stores. She will officially join Apple in 2014 as the Senior Vice President…

Apple was initially expected to launch an iPhone trade-in program in June, but never did. Now the rumors are back with sources saying that Apple begun informing employees internally about a new program that will allow users to trade in their…

Apple stock may be on the decline but you wouldn’t know it if you were to walk into an Apple Store. That’s because Cupertino’s retail outfits have reached new record revenue of $57.60 per visitor according to Horace Dediu from…

Citing an "extremely reliable source", 9to5Google reports that the iconic search company intends to launch its own network of brick-and-mortar retail stores across the United States. According to the report, the company hopes to introduce a select number of these…

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded Apple a registration certificate for a patent that was filed more than two years ago with regards to the design of their retail stores. The trademark reportedly covers the design and layout…

In the decade we have been publishing TechSpot, we have watched Apple resurge from the joke that G3 and G4 machines represented, to the Apple 'Mac vs. PC' debate -- during a time the company had better luck selling MP3 players than computers -- to today's ubiquity of Apple products in all forms of computing devices.

During the past 10 years Apple has systematically attacked and conquered from several fronts. Here's a brief recount of those winning products, and where it applies, the industry incumbents that for one reason or another failed to innovate or at least failed to beat Apple at breaking products to the masses first.

A library in Bexar County, Texas will soon be the first in the country to open without a single physical book. The fully digital public library system will be called BiblioTech and is being led by Bexar County Judge Nelson…

When Microsoft launched Windows 8 last week, it was the culmination of a long wait. For most folks, it was a rather jarring thrust into the future. For better or worse, the operating system that introduces the touch-oriented Metro UI to the Windows environment had arrived.

No one is more excited about the launch than Microsoft. The company has launched pop-up holiday stores at malls across America to promote the new OS and the Surface RT. I had a chance to check in with one at Aventura Mall in Miami, Florida.

Best Buy is in the process of testing out a new in-store layout that looks and feels almost identical to an Apple Store. The idea is to focus on customer and employee interaction rather than showcasing every possible gadget and…

Fulfilling a promise it made in January, Apple has reworked its employee discount program to include $500 off Mac computers and $250 off of iPads. According to 9to5Mac, this discount stacks with an existing 25 percent off which Apple employees…

Apple has postponed plans to begin offering the iPhone 4S through its retail locations in mainland China, the Washington Post reports. The company was forced to delay the launch because of the enormous crowds which coalesced overnight, citing concerns of…

New estimates from Asymco’s Horace Dediu indicate that each Apple store employee generates about $278 per hour in revenue for the company. These findings are based off of data that Cupertino publishes about its retail segment and are cataloged at…

Apple has released an updated version of their Apple Store app that allows for in-store pickup of items ordered online as well as the ability to perform a self-checkout when buying accessories at a retail storefront.

There's no denying Apple's retail success. Ten years after opening the first store location at Tysons Corner in Virginia, the company now counts 327 stores worldwide, where it can showcase its products to millions of visitors each month with thoughtful…

Apple is currently building a second retail store in Hamburg, Germany. Those who dislike the company, or at least those who enjoy having a laugh at Cupertino's expense, have vandalized the construction site. In fact, this is the second time…